Blind Fold, page 17
“Thank you,” Nichelle called back because her husband had no words for the woman, who didn’t come for a visit once in the two months he’d been home.
He arrived at his mother’s church, the parking lot filled with vehicles, which matched the vestibule of the church. Faces stared at him and his family as they walked by. He spotted Mr. Exit and Karli in the seat, and Merge, Doc Tootie, Dexter and the other three kids whose names escaped him. He nodded, taking note of the other men and women sitting with the Exit and Merge. He also saw Falling Rocks and Slow, along with Gabriel, his wife, brother and even Isaiah “Bleu” Neary along with his wife and son.
He broke. The tears grabbed him hard and his knees were about to give way. Gabriel and Bleu came to his side, guiding him to the front pew. Once he was seated, Karli materialized at his side, sitting close, snuggling up to him.
“Hold onto me Uncle Wun Wei,” she whispered. “I got you. I got you.”
A handkerchief came from his pocket to wipe away the tears that could not stop flowing as he looked at the thin form in the casket. She was gone. A woman, tall, with a midsection wide than anything else on her body took to the stage and began singing, His Eye is on the Sparrow. Not a dry eye remained in the rectory except one; Uriel’s tears dried up. His sadness was replaced by the feeling o being watched, activating his Spidey Senses, engaging his desire to fuck somebody up for choosing this moment to insinuate themselves into the mix.
He didn’t turn around to look for the interloper as the church got its feet, filing in a long line to take one last look at the woman who sacrificed so much for Uriel Tamagotchi to the be man that he was today. The viewers of the body which remained, didn’t know about the woman who gave up eating meat so her son could take private martial arts lessons from a world-renown Sensi. These people didn’t know his mother went to work with a piece of roofing tile in the bottom of her shoe so her son could have braces. People who walked by, attempting to shake his hand, offering condolences on his loss, didn’t know about the teenager who removed the laundry from the wash to discover holes in his mother’s underwear. She had hole sin her bloomers so he could have a tutor in Spanish to get out of high school.
They knew none of the journey between his mother and he, and why he swore he’d do whatever it took so she would never own anything with a hole in it other than a doughnut. The sadness was replaced by anger as the pallbearers came forth, lifting the encased remains of his mother. Bleu Neary, a large man with a tie similar to his own with a stop sign on it, lead the crew. A man with a scar on his face wearing a tie with a yield sign also took a handle. Another he didn’t know whose tie held nothing more than a bullseye, along with Slow, and Falling Rocks.
“Uriel,” Nichelle whispered, “who are these men?”
“My fraternity brothers,” he replied back, feeling a sense of belonging as he stood, holding Karli’s hand and following the procession.
A woman, wearing dark shades and a black floppy hat, he didn’t recognize, wore a floral scarf, with an embroidered hump on the end, which she made certain was prominently displayed. The scarf caught his eye because Wrong Way wore a similar scarf with and embroidered way into it.
Ezekiel Neary filed out behind him, along with his wife and daughter. Gabriel came next with his wife, Cabrina, then another woman he didn’t know with a son. Dusty Rose Hoyt, Exit’s daughter stepped into the procession walking along side Jasir, followed by Dexter, Merge’s son and three other children.
“All of these people are your fraternity brothers?” Nichelle asked as they climbed in the car.
A long line of limos followed as each of the fraternity brothers and their families slid into the cars, his Aunt and cousin, riding with Gabriel and his family. One Way was still on edge. They were being watched and he could tell from where, but he had a good idea who. The occurrence of today was no easy feat and was a matter which didn’t happen often.
The entire Southeast Construction Crew were all together in one place. An oddity Gabriel never allowed to exist. One Way wasn’t the only brother wondering why.
****
At the cemetery where they all stood in a half circle under the green awning, Gabriel and One Way were shielded. The discomfort of being so close to so many made One Way move and inch his way toward the rear of the group, but he was stopped by the guy with the bullseye in his tie.
“I am the Mann,” he told One Way. “Two o’clock, behind the huge headstone. He will peek his head up in 3, 2, and there he is. I also spotted him in the balcony of the church.”
“Thanks, I could feel him, but not see him,” One Way replied.
“We all have eyes on him; he’s after Gabriel. Or at least he thinks he is,” Mann said.
“Why?”
“Long story. Not here,” he said.
One Way had nothing more to say as the Pastor said his final words and people milled away from the gravesite to their cars. Uriel wasn’t ready to leave. He wasn’t prepared to say goodbye. Yasmine had a touch of claustrophobia and why she consented to being placed six feet underground unnerved him.
Nichelle took his hand, “we did everything we were supposed to do, husband. You have done it all right. She is at peace. It’s time for you to find your own.”
He nodded, allowing his eyes to travel to the spot where the man had been hiding. Dr. Elden Thomas had also attended the service. He had arrived at the house the same time as the ambulance, pronouncing the death of Yasmine, and attributing it to complications due to the cancer. One Way was surprised to see him at the gravesite.
One Way provided a mock salute and each man, each technician made a point of speaking with the doctor. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It may have placed a target on the man’s back, especially with the nick on the Glitterman’s arm, getting progressively worse.
It was only a matter of time.
****
The wound smelled weird to Rami. It as unlike any wound he’d ever seen and the cut was small, almost miniscule, but the flesh around the wound had began to fester.
“That fucker stuck me with something and I didn’t even see his hand move,” he whispered. Nausea was starting to set in but he had to see them all together. A photo was required as he aimed his phone, snapping a photo.
The Apex had spotted him in the church and looked him directly in the eye. “That jerk actually had the nerve to point his finger at me like he was shooting me between the eyes,” Rami bitched.
Common sense would have told a smarter man to leave the technicians be; no one ever said Rami Slanecki was a smart man. However, he was far smarter than they gave him credit. He too held a degree in biochemistry and could, by taking a sample of his own blood figure out what he’d been poisoned with.
Mentally, he went over the supplies he’d taken from Wrong Way’s van, thinking of the smaller vials, in the temperature-controlled casing. He leaned against the headstone, his back against the cold marble, calculating, inventorying each vial. Three of the vials were anti-venom.
“What the hell she needs with anti-venom?” He thought, then looked again at the wound. “Could this be some form of venom?”
Panic filled him as he thought of the most deadly snakes in the world, assuming the Asian cunt face has stuck him with some rare shit that would slowly cause necrosis and take his arm. Or worse, the chemist had concocted a cocktail that would burst his blood vessels apart one by one.
He peered over the headstone again spotting the Apex and the Asian man looking at him.
“Oh shit,” he said, popping back down like a wack-a-mole and scrambling on his hands and knees to his vehicle.
The Glitterman sat, watching waiting. All of the men were surrounding one man. A black man, clean cut, who knew each guy. He also knew Wrong Way which he spotted in the crew.
“Wait a titty sucking minute, the scarf,” he said aloud as if he’d struck gold. “The other woman in the scarf, who is she?”
He spotted the ties, but could only see the tops of the knots from where he sat and he counted, ten. Isaiah Neary, he saw. Ezekiel Neary, he saw. The third man, the handsome one, he’d seen in North Carolina with his brother-in-law.
“The fucking spook. I see you! I see you! I see you!” He said with glee. “I’m going to get me some answers now. If I can outsmart the technicians, I won’t need to join their crew- I can create my own to take out them. I’m coming for you Mr. Handsome CIA Spook. I’m coming for you all!”
****
The limousines returned the fraternity to the church while the car rode in by One Way and his family, returned to the house. Food lined the kitchen island; the counter tops and the smell of fresh baked cookies filled the air. Willow Hoyt was in his mother’s home and greeted him as the door with a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade.
“Thank you,” he said, taking a seat in the comfy chair.
The sound of vehicles arriving put Nichelle on edge as one after the other filed into the house. Jackets were removed and all of the neckties could be clearly seen. It was unorthodox and he didn’t like it.
“Gabe, you think this is a good idea, all of us in one place at the same time? An RPG could take out the entire Southeast Construction Crew right now,” One Way said as everyone turned to look at him.
“If we go, we go together,” Gabriel replied. “We are a family. Your family is here and we mourn with you. Should anything befall us, it befalls us together.”
Mr. Mann stepped forward, “he was at the cemetery. We’ve had ample opportunity to end him, but you keep saying no. He’s coming for you Gabe, we all know it and so do you.”
Gabriel took a glass of lemonade from Willow, offering her a warm smile. He looked about the room at the family his crew had created. Children, no one wanted, men, no woman should have rightly loved, and they all centered in this room along with his brothers and their families. He couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world he needed or wanted to be.
“God has a plan for us all. There are five named Archangels in this room, Michael, Raphael, Joel, Gabriel and you are the last, Uriel. Each of you were chosen and specially trained to do what you do,” the Archangel said, “so was I. Allow this to play out.”
“If you say so,” Zeke said observing the two women in the crew. Wrong Way stood out to him but the other woman, radiated a darkness which set wrong with him. “I’m telling you now Gabe, if that worm slithers around my place, I’m not going to have a conversation with God, I’m going to personally introduce that man to his maker.”
Wrong Way moved into the conversation, “I would recognize that voice anywhere. Zeke Neary in the flesh. You’re taller that I expected.”
“You can see me?” Zeke said, looking around for his wife.
“Even when my vision was marred, I could see you Zeke Neary,” she said patting him in the chest, like he’d folded the laundry without her having to ask.
“Don’t know how to take that, but whatever. Good to see you’re doing well. Where is that husband of yours?”
“In the kitchen, talking to that wife of yours,” Wrong Way said, giving him a wink.
“Lady, you make me all kinds of uncomfortable,” Zeke replied.
“That’s because she’s a sociopath and likes to poison puppies,” Mann said, “step away Zeke. Move back man. You’re in danger Will Robinson.”
One Way watched the interaction between them all. The woman he didn’t know, introduced herself as Ms. Hump, the femme fatale, who took a liking to the doctor. If any one needed a warning, it would be that man, but he seemed to be holding his own. Jasir, happier than a pig in slop, asked to use just about all of the equipment in the garage.
There were kids on bikes, on skates, one kid took his skateboard, and the boy Dex, asked to borrow his roller blades. Karli found Jasir’s book collection and located a quiet corner to read. The girls hung out in the backyard, the one who didn’t go to the park with the older kids, played quietly with board games his mother always kept and One Way watched his wife.
In the kitchen with the other wives of hitmen and killers, she seemed at home. She laughed and shared recipes, and soon called everyone to eat. The kids got plates first.
“Honey, husband, Mr. One Way, can you send a text to Jasir and have him and the kids come back so they can eat?”
“Sure thing,” he said, taking note of the man with the scar. “Hey Mr. Yield. Nice to meet you.”
“You aren’t scary. Well, especially when you’re sending a text to your kid to come get some food,” Yield said with a growl.
“And it’s had to imagine you have a doctorate in anything related to the existence of mankind on this planet and how he lived, but I’m not judging,” One Way said back in an equal growl.
“I like you,” Yield said.
“Don’t feel the same, but I got you,” One Way said. “I appreciate you all being here.”
He thought about and said it louder. “I appreciate you all being here. It means to the world to me and my wife. I think most of you have met my Nichelle. Thank you all for making the worse day of my life bearable.”
Gabriel stepped forward and raised his glass of lemonade, “to family!”
“To family,” they all replied.
Children came in from the back door smelling of sweat and outdoors. Moms yelled for kids to wash hands and faces, as plates of food were carried to any spot that held a butt. Chatter filled the room after Gabriel blessed the food and pockets were formed as the family took the time to get to know each other.
Outside, watching from his vehicle, a lone man hated them all. The one thing he wanted more than anything, they had. They were a family.
It was time, he made them all pay for taking away what was rightfully his.
-Fin-
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Did you love Blind Fold? Then you should read Blind Luck by Olivia Gaines!
Mr. Yield popped in at a small roadside eatery in Missouri for a bowl of grits, three crispy strips of bacon and a cup of coffee. Already angry at the bullet hole in his leg courtesy of Mr. Stop, the last thing he wanted was trouble.Trouble came calling with the start of an antique watch, a woman named Millicent and obsessive Sheriff. It was just his blind luck that all three were about to change his life.
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Olivia Gaines, Blind Fold
